The incident was first reported by The Times, which said it was unclear whether the defense minister was deliberately targeted, but indicated the jet’s flight path was visible on tracking websites. According to the Financial Times, after its signal was jammed, Healey’s plane spent three hours flying without access to GPS or the internet.
There have been several recent instances of interference with Western planes linked to Russia. A plane carrying European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was allegedly impacted by GPS interference last September, but there were contradictory accounts of what exactly took place.
Flights in the eastern Baltic Sea region have also experienced GPS disturbances linked to Russia. Ukraine has said that Kremlin jamming operations have led several of its drones to enter EU airspace.
Last week two Russian warplanes intercepted a British spy plane over the Black Sea. At the time, Healey said the incident was “another example of dangerous and unacceptable behavior by Russian pilots.”
He added that the Russian interception “will not deter the UK’s commitment to defend NATO, our allies and our interests from Russian aggression.”